GACA issues May report on airport, airline punctuality
The General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) released its monthly report on the punctuality of Saudi airports and national carriers for May 2025.
The report measures performance based on departures and arrivals occurring within 15 minutes of the scheduled time and complements GACA's other monthly assessments of service quality at airports and airlines.
Among international airports with more than 15 million passengers annually, Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport Riyadh's ranked first with a 89% compliance rate.
In the category of international airports with five to 15 million passengers annually, Dammam's King Fahd International Airport topped with 88% compliance.
As for international airports with two to five million passengers per year, Tabuk's Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Airport (TUU) led with a 91% compliance rate.
AlUla International Airport took first place in the fourth category of international airports with less than two million passengers annually, with a 96% compliance rate. Meanwhile, for domestic airports, Tarif Airport led with 100% compliance.
The following table breaks down the on-time departure performance of Saudi airports in May 2025:
Compliance with Departure Times
Category
Airport
Current Month
Previous Month
Int'l Airports (>15 mln passengers annually)
King Abdulaziz International Airport (Jeddah)
89%
78%
King Khalid International Airport (Riyadh)
89%
90%
Int'l Airports (5-15 mln passengers annually)
King Fahd International Airport (Dammam)
88%
87%
Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport (Medina)
86%
72%
Int'l Airports (2-5 mln passengers annually)
Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport (Tabuk)
91%
83%
King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Airport (Jazan)
91%
90%
Abha International Airport
88%
91%
Int'l Airports (<2 mln passengers annually)
AlUla International Airport
96%
88%
Neom Bay International Airport
95%
94%
Al-Jouf International Airport
93%
84%
Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz International Airport (Qassim)
92%
86%
Prince Abdulmohsin bin Abdulaziz International Airport (Yanbu)
91%
74%
Hail International Airport
91%
92%
Arar International Airport
90%
90%
Taif International Airport
88%
82%
Najran International Airport
85%
90%
Al-Qaisumah International Airport
84%
87%
Al-Ahsa International Airport
84%
93%
Domestic Airports
Turaif Airport
97%
100%
Sharurah Airport
93%
75%
Wadi Al-Dawasir Airport
93%
100%
Bisha Airport
92%
94%
King Saud bin Abdulaziz Airport – Al-Baha
91%
99%
Al-Dawadmi Airport
89%
75%
Al-Qurayyat Airport
81%
83%
Rafha Airport
77%
73%
Saudi Airlines (Saudia) topped national carriers in terms of compliance to arrival and departure flights, with 90%. Meanwhile, flynas came in second with 89% for compliance to arrivals and 91% for departures.
National Carriers' Compliance to Arrival/Departure Times
Carrier
Arrivals
Departures
Current Month
Previous Month
Current Month
Previous Month
Saudia
90%
89%
90%
89%
flynas
89%
86%
91%
91%
Flyadeal
90%
87%
92%
91%
The report showed that the Jizan-Jeddah route and Jeddah-Abha route topped domestic routes in terms of compliance at 95%.
Compliance of Top five Domestic Routes*
Route
Departure Compliance in Current Month
Departure Compliance in Previous Month
Jizan to Jeddah
95%
86%
Jeddah to Abha
95%
94%
Dammam to Jeddah
94%
92%
Jeddah to Jizan
94%
93%
Riyadh to Abha
94%
96%
*Selected from the 20 busiest routes.
Internationally, the Riyadh-Amman route topped with a 97% compliance rate, followed by the Riyadh-Dubai route (94%).
Compliance of Top Five International Routes*
Route
Compliance of Departure Flights
Current Month
Previous Month
Jeddah to Abu Dhabi
97%
92%
Jeddah to Dubai
96%
81%
Riyadh to Amman
95%
97%
Riyadh to Abu Dhabi
94%
92%
Riyadh to Bahrain
94%
94%
*Selected from the 20 busiest routes.
GACA indicated that cancelled flights are excluded when calculating the compliance rate. The actual time is calculated when the aircraft starts moving (push back from the stand) and when it stops moving (on stand with brakes on).
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